William Bibbiani wrote:Crave: Where are you at right now, in the process of producing American Gods?

Bryan Fuller: American Gods is cruising along very nicely. It’s very exciting. There’s conversations in the writer’s room that we are having on this show that I’ve never had in a writer’s room before, because we’re actually given the ability to talk about fate and belief, and the rules which we use to navigate society being challenged in a fashion that is not anti-religion, but not necessarily letting religion off the hook entirely.

So it’s very important to us in the show to not be making fun of anybody for their religious beliefs because we all have some sort of belief-like thing in our brain that could arguably be delusional, whether it’s ghosts or gods or whatever superstition, black cats, walking under ladders, et cetera. So every one of us is prone to a delusion-like belief and that feels like it’s an exciting arena to talk about humanity in a way that I haven’t been able to do before on a show. Not since Star Trek really.One thing that’s absent from the book is organized religion. We don’t really see any priests, and we don’t really go into any churches. Is that something you’re more free to explore on the show?

Oh yeah, we get into Jesus and the big God as well. You know, so much of the book is exploring the more marginalized gods who are struggling to make their way in modern America without the strength of the believers that, say, Jesus and Buddha and Easter might have because of their public personas. So it wasn’t necessarily a part of the novel but ideally what our goal would be with this series - mine, Michael Green’s, Neil Gaiman’s - would be that the book American Gods is actually the Reader’s Digest version of the story.

Are there different versions of Jesus, or would there only be one, do you think?

Oh there’s as many Jesuses as there are cultures that believe in Jesus.

Do you think you’ll have a scene where they all meet and get in an argument?

I won’t say but stay tuned. That’s kind of your answer. [Laughs.]

"What we’re looking at with American Gods is developing a Marvel Universe, not with superheroes but with gods."

The spin-off of American Gods takes place in its own isolated corner. Do you think there’s room to get to Anansi Boys or include it in some way?

Well, we don’t have the rights to Anansi Boys but we’re hoping that we will eventually. Mr. Nancy is going to play a major role in the series and potentially what we’re looking at with American Gods is developing a Marvel Universe, not with superheroes but with gods. As detailed and integrated as the Marvel Universe is, and doing that with deities is something that excited all of us.

So who knows? In success we may have spin-offs of American Gods that follow lesser gods in greater detail than you might in the main series, but there’s all sorts of potential for this show that we’re very excited about and I hope the audience is as enthusiastic as we are so we can bring those dreams to fruition.

Could there be actual superheroes, since we’re interpreting the idea of godhood so loosely in American Gods?

I think ideally these gods become superheroes in their own right, and I think that is their goal, of trying to reignite belief in them will give them more power to become those heroes that they promised their believers that they will become. So there is a heroic interpretation.

Or are you asking, in the rules of the universe, since the rules hinge on thought form - which is, if you believe in anything enough, it manifests into reality - that if we believe in Superman will we manifest him into reality?

I am asking that, yeah.

It’s an interesting question. We don’t necessarily cross over into those kind of broader superheroes but we do extend the thought form umbrella over other things that Americans believe in and may have manifested into reality because of those beliefs.

I'm a big fan of Bryan Fuller's. Wonderfalls is one of my all-time fave shows, and I always admired Hannibal's artistry and dark heart even if it lapsed into pretentious navel-gazing a little too often for my tastes. So I'd be interested in anything Fuller is attached to, is what I'm saying.

It's funny/sad that this property is getting such an underground push compared to The Dark Tower. Both are epic, fantastical journey tales. Neither is particularly mainstream, but King is a household name. And while I consider myself a Dark Tower junkie, I'm finding myself more excited about seeing American Gods on TV than I am seeing The Dark Tower in a theater.

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I really enjoyed the first episode. Wednesday and Shadow Moon are cast perfectly. It is so good to see McShane chewing up every second of television screen time again.

It took me multiple tries to get through the book - not because I didn't enjoy it, but it was one of those times where life kept interrupting me. I finally made my way through it a few years ago, enjoyed it, but remember few details. So my take on this is is the view of the most casual of fans.

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Fievel wrote:I really enjoyed the first episode. Wednesday and Shadow Moon are cast perfectly. It is so good to see McShane chewing up every second of television screen time again.

It took me multiple tries to get through the book - not because I didn't enjoy it, but it was one of those times where life kept interrupting me. I finally made my way through it a few years ago, enjoyed it, but remember few details. So my take on this is is the view of the most casual of fans.

I did not read the book. I know, I know...the horror. First episode was quite good and just way the f*ck out there. I'll be tuning in for more.

I will say, this show was big, wild and weird, which are all qualities I admire, but it was also kind of a fucking mess. The plot veers drunkenly from one subject to the next (in this case sometimes literally), and the season ends abruptly after only eight episodes. Which as far as I can figure is down to two reasons: 1) they're trying to tell one book's worth of story as slowly as possible so as not to run out of material, and/or 2) after all the CGI talking spider heads and man-eating vagina gods, they ran out of money quicker than intended.

Creators and executive producers on the series, Fuller and Green are said to be departing after clashing with producer FremantleMedia over budget and creative direction. Fuller and Green were said to have been pushing for an increase to the series’ budget for season two. Sources close to the production said that the per-episode budget for “American Gods” season two already nearly $10 million.

No replacement showrunner has yet been named

Green and Fuller both have multiple irons in the fire elsewhere. Green is shepherding the Netflix drama “Raising Dion” and another TV series project in the works. Bryan Fuller is working on Apple’s “Amazing Stories” as well as other projects.

After hitting an impasse on plans for season two, Fuller and Green opted to bow out. The decision comes a year after Fuller exited his role as showrunner on CBS’ “Star Trek: Discovery” amid multiple production delays.

Based on the supernatural novel by Neil Gaiman, “American Gods,” tells the story of a conflict between new and old mythological figured. The series stars Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon, an ex-con who finds himself in a tug-of-war between America’s old gods — the ones brought here via millennia of immigration, like Ian McShane’s “Mr. Wednesday” (Odin) and Orlando Jones’ “Mr. Nancy” (Anansi) — and the new gods, like Gillian Anderson’s Media.

“American Gods” was renewed by Starz for a second season in May. In addition to Fuller and Green, Craig Cegielski and Stefanie Berk are also executive producers along with David Slade, Adam Kane, and Gaiman. Starz senior vice presidents of original programming Marta Fernandez and Ken Segna are the executives in charge.

In her review of the first season for Variety, critic Sonia Saraiya wrote, “[‘American Gods’] is a sprawling, beautiful show that is fascinating, brilliantly executed, and rather hard to follow. There’s a narrator who never is introduced, a series of gods who do not take the trouble to introduce themselves, and a sense of electric possibility in a landscape that is otherwise dull beyond belief. It’s not just Shadow that is unmoored, it’s the audience, too: Like the feverish terror of a bad dream, the show presents a disorienting, portentous landscape — with absolutely no instructions whatsoever.”

I'm also hoping that he writes a review of the new Star Wars film. His review of The Force Awakens was probably my favorite review I've read from a member of the Zone.

But mostly because I'm not an asshole.

I actually appreciate the news links. I've already read most of them, having visited their source sites. But every now and then he'll post something new to me and I appreciate that.

But it's more fun to be an asshole and pile it on to a complete stranger, I suppose.

The guy reads a bunch of entertainment stories. Maybe he had a shit day. Maybe he's dealing with divorce, a friend's suicide, or maybe he just got done changing the sheets on his father's bed for the third time in two days because his cancer-ridden body has left him with no control and he's constantly shitting himself. The strongest human being he's ever known is reduced to a sobbing 100lb frame that somewhat resembles his father. Maybe he just came home from the nursing home, crushed that his mother hasn't recognized him since Labor Day and it's not looking good that she ever will again. So he comes home and reads these stories. While he's reading them, trying to escape the unbearable shitstorm that is his life, he actually stops and thinks "I'll bet those guys at The Zone would want to see this." So he goes to The Zone, makes himself crack a smile by finding a relevant post from 2006 (he was hoping for 2005) that relates to the article he's linking, and moves on to the next one. He doesn't read the insults posted by the members. He's hardly aware of them. He just makes his post and moves on. But yeah, fuck him for stopping to think about others, right?

Time to go put my kids to bed.I think I'll tell them that they're pathetic, worthless, and that they can't leave my house fast enough (they're 6, 8, and 9)And then I'll punch each of them in the stomach.When they ask me why I said those horrible things and then hit them I'll tell them "Fuck off! You just got Peven'd!"

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what he does is clutter up threads with a bunch of links and stories that I have already read somewhere else and come to this place to discuss. this is a message board, a place for people to exchange ideas and opinions about whatever subject is at hand. it isn't a news source or a place for someone to dump other people's reporting. conceptually, it isn't supposed to be. grow the fuck up, "because i'm not an asshole". give me a break, Jerry. you know what is being an asshole?? ignoring the complaints of other people about what goes in a shared space and instead trying to justify it and vilifying those that complain just because you feel like it. good for you that you like bot-posted articles, but you aren't the only one who uses this place and the fact is other people aren't that happy with them besides kirk and I , either. are all the people who don't care for the bot-like link-fluffing here assholes just because they don't agree with you, Jerry??

I was actually going to reply to The Butcher's link as well, but got sidetracked with work and stuff the last couple days. Yes, I get to work non-stop during the holidays. Lucky me!

I was a big fan of what Bryan Fuller accomplished with American Gods' first season; it was one of the few NEW shows that I went out of my way to add to my watchlist. I find this news to be very unexpected and disappointing. I'm happy to hear that he and Michael Green completed all of the scripts for season 2, which means even at a smaller budget it'll still be pretty much in line with their vision for the show. But what it means in the long-term, or if there even IS a long-term now, is anybody's guess. So yeah, I'm bummed.